Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has asked the automotive industry to cease production as well as sale of diesel cars and SUV. Further, the Minister also termed these vehicles as polluting vehicles.
A Diesel-less future?
Gadkari also told the industry to say goodbye to diesel or there could be an imposition of additional pollution tax. This could be an extra 10 percent for diesel powered cars. The extra tax would be levied to make selling diesel units more unviable or difficult. Further, with diesel being imported, lesser usage will ensure lesser dependence on fuel imports.
Already, the latest emission norms or the BS6 Phase 2 emission norms are making diesel vehicles more difficult to sell by increasing the cost. This is because the technology needed to make these engines compliant is expensive.
Overall, since the BS6 norms kicked in, sales of diesel cars have slowed down. Instead there has been an increase in the sales of CNG and petrol powered vehicles. Back in 2019, the share of diesel powered cars was over 32 percent overall. However, today it stands at just 17 percent.
Minister’s remark was a suggestion
However, it must be noted that this is just a suggestion from the minister. It is highly unlikely that it will be made into a law. The minister is known to share his opinion on various topics or presented various ideas before. That said, not all of them ended up being implemented. It was further later clarified that there is no such proposal under consideration as well.
Toyota’s hybrid diesel engine
Toyota has offered a 48V hybrid system along with 2.8-litre diesel engine. There is an integrated starter / generator (ISG) along with a 48V battery. According to the Japanese carmaker, this system will offer a fuel efficiency gain of up to 10 percent. Toyota also says this will be for short trips, and as the distance increases, the percentage gain would reduce.
The engine tuning along with the gearbox will remain unchanged.
Also Read – Toyota reveals new 2.8L diesel hybrid engine.